I always thought there was something more to life and something I am missing.
But no, its really just the same no matter where you end up. The only thing that changes is climate and the people that surround you may have a few different views on life depending on culture.
I experienced it. And in this day and age things just seem to be even more alike than a few decades back. I can move from Germany to England, USA, Singapore you Name it and I will end up doing my routine (breakfast, gym, work, eat, …) in that location.
It sounds like my life is boring but its not. Its as exciting as the life of Billion other people. Its basic, nothing special and not boring.
I am by no means suicidal but if I had the choice to be Born again I’d decline and just rather rest. If everything goes well I have another 60 years on this Planet and I am grateful for each day to be here but 80 years is enough for me. I wouldnt want to live another 200 years
Every time you think you have life worked out it comes along and fucks your shit up.
You should seriously consider the possibility that you are depressed. Depression isn’t necessary sadness. It can be a feeling of pointlessness and hopelessness. A good friend once told me that he didn’t mind living, but if he were to suddenly get hit by a bus and killed, he wouldn’t mind that either. This friend refused to get antidepressants for years despite my advice because he said he wasn’t sad or suicidal, but when he finally did try medication he felt much better and he says it was one of the best choices he ever made.
Antidepressants are cheap, easy to get prescribed, and generally have few side effects. I think they’re worth trying. Maybe they’ll do nothing for you but there’s a real possibility that they’ll change your life.
Okay, entirely different interpretation than mine. I read it as content with what they have, not indifferent but you may be right.
That about being tired and just wanting to rest together with his basic life kinda gives it away. He’s weary, not content.
Well, I wouldn’t be concerned about someone saying they want to rest once they’ve lived 80 years. Wanting to rest right now would be more alarming.
Yeah, good point.
deleted by creator
Nah dude, he’s just a nihilist
Maybe, but in that case he can stop taking antidepressants and be no worse off than he was before he started.
Antidepressants can have serious side effects that can persist even after stopping. Look up the Surviving Antidepressants forum. That doesn’t mean don’t use them, but it’s just a truism that all pharmacological intervention has risks. To see randos diagnosing & medicalising someone for a lemmy post that isn’t an obvious cry for help is…objectionable, and in poor taste, and imo diagnostic of some much larger problems, but I don’t have the time to spare to argue that point. But people promoting what could be life-altering compounds as no biggie demands a response. (Again, my position isn’t ‘don’t use antidepressants,’ it’s ‘messing with your brain chemistry demonstrably can have serious consequences and is a serious decision.’)
edit: rephrased
I second a lot of opinions about that you might have depression.
I’d like to prefer a slightly harder edged one.
You could just be the sort of privileged asshole that thinks they know everything and they’ve seen everything just because it hasn’t been delivered to their door.
First world problem stuff. Serious case of the wahs.
The reason I bring this up is that you don’t just talk about your own ennui here. You go on to assert that there are a billion other people with similarly excitementless lives. How do you know that? Who are you to make that judgement on their lives and how they feel about it?
You say you have 60 years left… That puts you in your twenties (and in the rather privileged and surprisingly rare position of living somewhere with a life expectancy of 80). Do you think that, maybe, you just don’t know that much about what is actually our there?
Egotistical and helpless is not a good look.
Consider this the tough love approach. It sounds like you are scared to find out. You are happy in your steady, safe rut and use the presumption that there is nothing else just to avoid going and finding out.
This doesn’t read like something who thinks they know everything.
Obviously, the person has come from privilege, so they don’t have a struggle in life. However, without that struggle, they don’t have another purpose in life. It just sounds pretentions since many people here wish they had that problem.
Well, life is the same everywhere because you are the same. I’m glad that you have found a routine that fits you and makes you happy.
But someone else may be entirely different. They would find the way you lead your life utterly unbearable. Some may merely object to individual elements of your routine while others can’t imagine having a routine at all. There are people who need a lot of variety in their lives and doing the same thing for more than a few weeks - maybe even just days - would drive them absolutely crazy.
You are happy to do what you are doing for 80 years and then cease existing and that’s totally fine. Someone else might chase entirely different goals. They want to see the world, meet as many people as they can, learn a dozen languages and try a different job every year or no job at all. For them, 80 years may not be enough.
Life isn’t basic. It’s incredibly diverse and exciting and chaotic. But once a person finds what they need among all this chaos, things fall into place and it starts feeling “basic” in a good way for them. And again, I’m happy that you found that for yourself. I haven’t. But I’m getting there.
Yes. You can have your stupid little morning routine in almost every place thats not an active warzone.
To get a live that’s more than basic, you actually have to go out there and experience it. To be interested in things and people. To be Interested in something!
Than you notice that the broad smear of western comfort and culture ist just a thin layer, a nice bubble for the well-off, weary business traveler or digital nomad.
Yes, I do it like many armchair psychologists here, I diagnose you with a light depression. Had this too, once. Shake it up. Do something new, something that makes you happy.
Yup. This is a truth that many people really fight against, and fighting it can make people do stupid things. Humans have an innate desire for something more, something bigger than what life is, because our brains are pattern-seekers. Religion capitalizes on this innate desire. Some people develop disorders and turn to drugs to find that mystical aspect of life that they think must exist, despite no real evidence.
Very well said!
I suppose this notion awakens suspicions of depression in people who find the text relatable? Hence the comments referencing depression.
Life does not need to be miraculous, special, or paradise-like. Have we taken humanity for granted so much, that we can’t find enthralment in the small things? Having a coffee in the morning, going to the gym in the evening. Maybe some of us could benefit from romanticisation, if it means stopping trying to achieve something special; life is special as it is, you don’t have to consciously do something to reach its peak.
I don’t know. I ramble. I guess, my point is, you don’t have to look closely into things in order to find something whimsical about life. Life is simple at its core; maybe it’s each of our individuality that makes it so fascinating.
Wherever you go, there you are
Holy shit, there’s a whole bunch of people doing some real tea leaf shit here attempting to read far too deep in to your post. I agree, I’m currently abroad in a completely different culture, but you know what. I eat, sleep and poop. Sure there’s other shit around the side, but the structure of the day is the same. Theres no magical “aha” moment / key. Life is simple (for those able to see beyond tomorrow), it is what you make of it.
All true, but life is also based
Expat with no friends thinks he is a genius and figured out life, news at 11.
As others have suggested that you have depression. I disagree. You wouldn’t say that your life is basic, you would say that life is miserable. (you shouldn’t take medical advice and diagnosis from internet). I think you are feeling Empty.
I always thought there was something more to life and something I am missing.
You thought correct.
its really just the same no matter where you end up
Yes, because feeling empty is not caused by lack of something physical, instead it is caused by something more esoteric, spiritual or abstract.
To „Cure” the emptiness you can do two things:
- Engage in spiritual practice of your choosing. - It doesn’t need to be the one you were born into, as you have traveled quite a way you can choose one that feels right. Beware as Lemmy is VERY hostile to any notion of spirituality.
- Find Signifiant Other. The connection and Love will fill your life to have something special as no other person on earth will have the exact same experience. You wont have to live only for yourself. You could live for others and then life stops being basic.
Of course there are other ways to fill the void inside of you but they are way harder as they are non standard. So pick your battles.
Or #3, find something that gives you purpose.
It seems like OP has gotten to a point where they are no longer struggling to survive, but there is no reason for being otherwise. At that point, life will feel empty.
Just to note, my clinical depression manifests primarily as a very thorough and all-consuming emptiness. Meds help with that, and whenever I have an episode, it’s exactly the same. I go on similar thought patterns as OP, though my conclusion is often more drastic, as in, I am simply too tired and void of reasons to stay, I can not go on, why did I ever think I could?
But then meds and time and therapy do their thing, and I’m very much different in regards to how I see these things. And I have a healthy episode. And the loop goes on.
But my point is, emptiness isn’t necessarily exclusive or distinct from depression. It manifests in many ways, and all of them are valid reasons to seek help. Nobody has to go through it alone. Few even could. I know I couldn’t have.
Life is what you make of it. Have awe in your heart and every day will be great.
